Have you ever had a negative thought? Where do they come from? What purpose do they serve? How do they help us? How do they hurt us? Why would we want to hold a negative thought?
Negative thinking comes from at least three sources: from ourselves, from others, and from the adversary.
From ourselves. How often do we bring ourselves down by comparing to others? We might think: I am not as smart, as wise, as good-looking, as athletic, as confident, as capable, etc. etc. etc. Maybe this can be helpful if it motivates us to set goals for personal improvement. We can learn from others and how they made progress in their lives and adapt or adopt their methods to do better and be better ourselves. But I would submit that it is important to measure our own progress against ourselves, not against others. Then we can move forward with faith and not become discouraged.
From others. Sometimes negative thoughts come from others, from advertising, from social media, from gossip, from criticism. Almost every advertisement tells us that we can be happier, stronger, healthier, and more desirable if only we buy their product. Social media, gossip, and criticism attempt to tear us apart and bring us down. Why would we hold onto those thoughts? We know who we are: children of loving Heavenly Parents, recipients of the eternal love and blessings of the infinite atonement of Jesus Christ. We are here to learn and grow and progress. And He is on our side!
From the adversary. He is not our friend. He is not on our side. He has no interest in our immortality and the joy and blessings of eternal life. Why pay attention to him??
Adjusting to Missionary Life offers suggestions on how to handle negative thoughts. These can be modified to apply to all of us.
Talking Back to Negative Thinking: Right now, or before bed tonight, list your negative thoughts from today on paper; then rewrite them to be more hopeful, truthful, and encouraging.
May the Lord bless us to let go of negative thinking and to remember who we are as daughters and sons of Heavenly Parents endowed with infinite worth.
HelenCAugust 21, 2024
Thank you for not suggesting we bury negative thoughts without understanding them. They exist for a reason and hoping they’ll “just go away” defeats their purpose. Understood, they add to our strength.